Benjamin mayer



(No Model.) 2- Sheets-'Sheet 1.

B. MAYER & w. H. MITCHELL. GAR COUPLING.

No. 500,342. I Patented June 27, 1893.

fl I Ewen/ford (No Model.) ZSheets-Sheeb 2( B. MAYER 86 W. H. MITCHELL.

7 CAR COUPLING. N0. 500,342.

Patented Jqne 27 UNIT D STATES PATENT ()FF CE.

BENJAMIN MAYER, OF NORTHCOTE, AND WALTER HENRY MITCHELL, OF MEREDITH,VICTORIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 500,342, dated June 27,1893.

Application filed November 3, 1892. Serial No. 450,865. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, BENJAMIN MAYER, a resident of Northcote, and WALTERHENRY MITCHELL, a resident of Meredith, Victoria, subjects of HerMajesty the Queen of Great Britain, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Couplings for Railway Carriages, Cars, or Trucks, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in couplings for use in securingtogether railway carriages, cars, trucks, or wagons to make up a train,and without the porter, guard, or attendant needing to go between thetrucks for the purpose of coupling.

The important feature of our invention is that it can be applied torailway carriages, trucks, locomotives, &c., without interfering withexisting couplings; and it is so arranged that should it be desired tocouple a carriage or truck fitted up in accordance with our inventionwith a carriage ortruck having either the existing hook and chain ordraw head and link coupling, then either of such types of coupling canbe coupled as ordinarily, our coupling being simply left unused.

Our coupling is also so devised that the draw hook, draw bar, or drawhead in use for existing couplings is retained by us as the draw bar forour invention.

Our couplings are automatic in so far that when two carriages or trucksrun close enough to one another and the coupling hooks are down, saidhooks rise and couple with their engaging bar, While to uncouple thehooks, the porter, guard, or attendant has simply to raise a lever atend of each carriage, car, or

truck. The bar operated by such lever is furnished with a lock device,by means of which the coupling hooks can be held up clear of thecoupling bars, and thus carriages or trucks can run against one anotherwithout the couplings engaging.

A further feature of our invention is that when trucks or wagons arecoupled with it there is little or no play between the buifers,consequently the bumping and jarring of the vehicles are prevented.

Our invention is constructed as follows:- Upon the draw hook or drawhead or draw bar of ordinary couplings we support a strong transversebar, the ends of which are further supported by eye or hook boltsprojecting from end of carriage or truck. Upon said transverse bar, atone side only, and between the central draw hook or draw bar and saidouter supporting bolt, we center the eye of a strong coupling hook, thetransverse bar at other side of central draw hook or draw bar being theengaging part for a similar coupling hook supported inasiinilar mannerfrom another carriage, car,or truck. Each of said coupling hooks areengaged by a traverse or lifting arm projecting from a shaft supportedin bearings secured upon end of carriage, car, or truck, the shaft beingprovided at each end with a handle or lever, while about midway of itslength we arrange a stepped lock device,rby means of which the shaft canbe retained at such a position as to hold up its attached coupling-hookclear of the engaging part of the opposite transverse coupling bar. Toproduce the automatic engaging action of the coupling we projectdownward and forward from each transverse engaging bar in front of itssaid engaging part aslide or apron, so that when the coupling hooks aredown and their fore ends contact with the said slides or aprons thehooks rise upward and over the engaging part of transverse bar andautomatically couple. Said transverse bar, for a coupling that is to beapplied where the hook and chain couplings exist, is so constructed thatit can be raised at one end to lift it out of the draw hook to allow thecoupling link to be placed on as ordinarily.

In order to fully explain our invention we will now describe it by areferenceto the attached drawings, in which similar letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts throughout.

Figure 1 is a plan showing our coupling attached to a carriage, car, ortruck, fitted with hook and chain couplings; Fig. 2, a side view ofsame, and with one of the coupling hooks shown in its coupled position,and the other held up or uncoupled ;'Fig. 3, a view showing the endparts of two carriages, cars, or trucks, and showing them coupled withthe ordinary hook and chain couplings, although one of the trucks isalso fitted with our invention; Fig. 4, an end view of one half of ourcoupling,

and intended to exhibit the use of the inclined slide or a ron uponwhich the fore end of opposite coup ing hook travels to cause it to riseand automatically couple. Fig. 5 is a detail of the lock device attachedto the operating shaft; Fig. 6, a plan of our invention showing itapplied to a car or carriage, the couplings of which are of the drawhead and link type, and Fig. 7 side view of same. Fig. 8 is a front viewof the transverse draw bar.

In Figs. 1 to 5, A are the ordinary draw hooks, having the chaincoupling links B attached as shown.

C is the end part of carriage, car, or truck.

D is the transverse draw bar seated at its center within hook A, andwith its ends supported by the eye bolt E and the square necked hookbolt E, both of which are supported from the frame of carriage or car,and have springs E at their back ends as shown. Transverse bars D mayeither be constructed at its center with a slot or hole D to receive thehook, or simply with a bend in it, as indicated by dotted lines inFig. 1. One end of bar D has a hook (1 formed on it to engage the eye ofbolt E, while the other end has a turned down finger d to pass overouteredge of hook bolt E. a

F are the coupling hooks, one being centered'by its eye at the positionshown on each bar D, a loose collar D secured by pointed set pins beingarranged at the side of book to retain it in position.

G are the traverse or lifting arms projecting from a shaft H supportedin bearings 11 at end of carriage, car, or truck. The fore end of saidlifting arms have a cross bolt and thimble G and a cross bolt G2 onthem, and between which bolts the stem of coupling hook F is looselyarranged. One arm of said lifting bar is widened, as shown in Fig. 1, toallow the coupling hook to cant sidewise when the engaging bar D islifted from the draw hook, as shown in Fig. 3. Upon shaft H a tongue His formed and adapted to work within a stepped lock piece H also securedto end of carriage or truck. The purpose of lock piece is to determinethe downward stroke or movement of the coupling hooks F by the tongue Hresting on the step 71 within the lock piece, and to hold the hook upwhen the tongue rests on a higher step h also therein. At each end ofshaft H is a hand lever H and such shaft is capable of lateral movementto allow of the tongue being placed at the requisite position within thelock piece H also said shaft H is inclined sufficient to cause the saidtongue piece to gravitate to within the lock piece.

J is the inclined apron or guide hinged to bar D as shown, at the endwhere opposite hook engages it, said apron being retained in itsposition when down by resting on an arm or stay J that is secured to asquared portion of the hook bolt E. K are-buffers of ordinaryconstruction.

In Figs. 6 and 7 our invention is shown applied tocouplings of the drawhead and link type, the bar D in this instance being either arrangedbehind the draw head L or behind a collar shrunk or secured thereon, thecentral part of bar D being formed with a hole D to allow of its beingplaced in such position. Said bar D has two cranks or sets in it, one toreceive the eye and the other to receive the hook of the coupling hooksF. Bar D is supported at its ends by eye bolts E furnished with springsas before described. Coupling hooks F are centered as before described,but instead of being connected directly to lifting arms G a connectinglink G is arranged between them as shown, while the shaft H is furnishedwith the tongue, lock device, and hand levers as before described.

M is a tappet or stud projecting from end of car or truck, its purposebeing to lead the coupling hook upward should it happen to pass over thebar D. To provide for the radiation of the vehicles when running overcurves we round the central part of bar D where it bears on the drawhead,and thus an equal strain is always upon both coupling hooks.

To allow bar D of the coupling shown in Figs. 1 to 5 to be raised clearof the draw hook A it is necessary that provision be made for canting itupward at one end, as shown in Fig. 3, and thus leave the draw hookclear to receivethe link of the ordinary couplings. In the couplingshown in Figs. 6 and 7 such a provision is unnecessary, as the linkerconnecting medium between the draw heads is capable of being placed inposition without interfering with our coupling.

As before described, when our coupling hooks are let down by the handlever to their lowest position, and the carriages, cars, or trucks arerun toward one another the couplings then automatically engage by thefore end of the coupling hooks F (Figs. 1 to 5) being led upward by theaprons J until the hooks drop over and engage the bars D, while asimilar action takes place with the coupling hooks F (Figs. 6 and 7),the tapered ends of which strike the bars D and thence travel upwarduntil they drop over said bars D. Should the concussion be severe andthe hooks be thrown past said bars D, then the fore end of hooks contactwith the tappets M on end of cars or trucks, and which tappets cause thehooks to rise vertically and so prevent damage being done by the hooksrunning into end of carriage, car, or trucks. To uncouple, the guard,porter, or attendant simply lifts the hand lever of each carriage ortruck, and by so doing lifts the coupling hook F off the bar D,then toretain the hooks up so that they will not couple the tongue of shaft His passed over the upper step h of the lock piece, the latter being doneby the attendant or porter pushing endwise upon the hand lever. Thisprovision is also necessary to allow the cars or trucks to be shuntedupon the railway lines.

To provide a safety appliance in our coup lings we have the eye bolts orhooks that supportthe ends of transverse draw barD of such a strengththat should the ordinary draw hook or draw head break then saidbolts'willwholly support the transverse draw bar D and take the load.Such safety appliance is stronger than the safety chains now commonlyused.

In applying our invention to railway carriages or trucks having the hookand chain couplings care must be taken to leave the distance betweenfore end of coupling hookand the frame of carriage greater than thecombined strokes of any two meeting buffers, so as to prevent the foreends of the coupling hooks touching the carriages should the buffers bedriven home.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, We declarethat what we claim is 1. In combination, the draw hook or head ofordinary form, an independent transverse bar having at its centralportion a bearing adapting the said bar to be fitted about the said drawhook, head or bar and a coupling hook carried by said transverse bar,substantially as described.

2. In combination, the draw bar hook or head, the transverse bar D,having a bearing at its center fitted to the said draw bar and crankedlateral extensions from said central bearing and the hooks engaging saidcranked extensions, substantially as described.

3. In combination the draw hook, the transverse bar D, having a centralbearing adapted thereto, the bearings for the ends of the transverse barwhereby said bar may be turned to disengage its central part from thedraw hook; and the coupling hook to engage the said bar, substantiallyas described.

4. In couplings for railway carriages, cars, or trucks, the combinationwith the draw hook or draw bar or draw head thereof of a transverse barD, eye and hook bolts E and E, coupling hook F, lifting arm G, with itscross bolts G and G the shaft H and operating handles H substantially asherein described.

5. In couplings for railway carriages, cars, or trucks, the combinationwith the draw bar or draw head thereof of a cranked transverse bar Dhaving a hole at its center to receive said draw bar, coupling hook F,eye bolts E, and the gear for lifting the coupling hook, substantiallyas herein described.

6. In couplings for railway carriages, cars, or trucks, the combinationwith the transverse draw bar D of the inclined slide or apron Jsupported and arranged substantially as herein described.

7. In couplings for railway carriages, cars, or trucks, the combinationof the operating shaft H having lifting arm G and the tongue piece Hattached, with the stepped lock piece H constructed and arrangedsubstantially as herein described.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twowitnesses.

BENJAMIN MAYER. WALTER HY. MITCHELL.

Witnesses:

ROBERT BODYOOMB, J unr., BEDLINGTON BonYcoMB.

